1. Field
An embodiment of the present invention relates to an electronic apparatus having a hinge to reverse a display unit to the states wherein a display surface is faced upward and downward against a main body.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is a notebook portable electronic apparatus whose main body and display unit are connected by a hinge. In this apparatus, a display unit can be reversed against a main body, and the display unit can be laid over a main body with a display surface faced upward. An example of such apparatus is disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2004-340383.
The electronic apparatus described in this patent application has a swivel hinge assembly to connect a main body and a display unit. The swivel hinge assembly has two rotation shafts. A first rotation shaft rotates the display unit horizontally. A second rotation shaft is provided on a base rotated horizontally by the first rotation shaft. The axis of the second rotation shaft is arranged horizontally to be orthogonal to the axis of the first rotation shaft, and rotates the display unit vertically. The first rotation shaft is held in a predetermined direction to the main body. The second rotation shaft is connected to the display unit, and is rotated together with the display unit against the main body.
A portable electronic apparatus is demanded to be thin as a whole and to have a large display area. The housings of thin main body and display unit have a sufficient stiffness, but bend a little when a display unit is rotated against a main body around first and second rotation axes of a swivel hinge assembly as a hinge mechanism. When a display unit is turned around the first rotation shaft, a fixing member connected to a hinge mechanism in the main body or display unit is distorted, and the axis of the first rotation shaft may be inclined during rotation.
In order to reduce the thickness of an electronic apparatus, a second rotation shaft is desirably arranged as close to the main body as possible. In this case, if a display unit is turned around a first rotation shaft and a first rotation shaft is inclined to the front with the display surface of a display unit turned sideways for the user, the lower end of a display unit hits upon a keyboard provided on the top surface of the main body.